063 
510 


OR, 


THE    SANDOWN    VICTORY. 


A  TEMPERANCE  STORY, 


IE1  O  IR,       O  Xj  13 


3T  O  TJ  3ST  O-  . 


BY  CHARLOTTE  S,   HILBOURNE, 


PORTLAND: 
F.    G.'RICH,    PRINTER    AND    PUBLISHED, 

Colt.   EXCIIAXOE  AXD    FoKE    SxilEETS. 

1807. 


ALICE  WATERS; 


OE, 


THE    SANDOWN    VICTORY 


A  TEMPERANCE  STORY, 


IFOIR/       OLID     .A-HSriD      Y  O  TJ  3sT  G- 


BY   CHARLOTTE  S,   HILBOURNE, 


POETLAND: 
F.    G.    EICH,    PBINTEE    AND    PUBLISHER, 

COE.  EXCHANGE  AND  FORE  STREETS. 
1867. 


TO    MY   EVERARD 

IN   HEAVEN, 
WHO,    BY    NO   INDUCEMENT   OR    BRIBERY    IN    HEALTH, 

OR  THE  EXCRUCIATING  PHYSICAL  SUFFERINGS 

• 

THROUGH  HIS  LAST  SICKNESS, 

COULD  BE  TEMPTEDTO  PRESS  THE  INEBRIATING  CUP 

TO   HIS    PURE   LIPS, 
THIS    LITTLE  BOOK  IS  FONDLY  INSCRIBLED 

)    Ins 


Enterd  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867,  by  CHARLOTTE  S.  HILBOURNE, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Maine. 


ALICE    WATERS. 


BY  CHARLOTTE  S.  IIILBOURNE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mother !"  exclaimed  our  heroine,  her  flaxen  ringlets  in  wild 
disorder ;  her  dimpled  cheeks  glowing  with  intense  excite- 
ment, as  she  bounded  lightly,  and  almost  breathlessly  into 
the  room  of  her  cottage-home,  where  her  mother  was  preparing  the 
scanty  meal  for  her  little  ones,  on  their  return  from  school. 

"Oh,  Mother  !  I  ran  away  from  Jennie  and  Josie,  and  Lettie ;  for 
I  was  in  such  a  hurry  to  tell  you  the  news,  Miss  Manners,  our  teach- 
er told  us,  that  there  was  going  to  be  a  Temperance  Lecture  in  the 
Town  Hall  this  evening;  and  she  said  that  we  must  all  be  there, 
and  not  forget  to  tell  our  parents  and  friends  to  come,  too.  And 
Oh !  Mother !  it  is  a  woman  that  is  going  to  lecture,  and  I  am  sure 
you  will  go,  and  Father,  and  all  of  us;  please  Mother  mayn't  we? 
I  know  that  a  Avoman  never  has  lectured  in  Sandown;  has  there 
Mother?"  Mrs.  Waters  did  not  reply,  for  there  was  a  heavy  shadow 
on  her  brow,  and  bright  crystal  tears  were  chasing  each  other 
merrily  down  her  pale,  sunken  cheeks ;  and  a  heavy  sob  escaped 
from  her  lips,  as  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  inebriate  husband, 
reeling  and  muttering  mrough  the  broken  doorway  of  their  delapi- 
dated  abode. 

He  was  just  in  the  prime  of  manhood ;  tall  and  well  proportioned  ; 
with  dark,  brilliant  eyes,  a  high,  broad  forehead,  around  which  clus- 
tered a  rich  redundence  of  dark  curly  hair ;  and  in  his  sober  mom- 
ents a  smile  of  almost  irresistible  beauty,  played  around  his  hand- 
some mouth  and  intellectual  brow. 

Fifteen  years  before,  Mrs.  Waters,  then  the  Belle  of  Saudown, 
had  stood  at  the  bridal  altar  and  intrusted  her  life  happiness  to  the 
keeping  of  him  who  had  vowed  to  cherish  and  protect  her,  so  long 
as  they  both  should  live. 

She  was  then  the  envy  of  many  a  rosy-cheeked,  bright-eyed  dam- 
sel, for  miles  around.  For  none  would  have  hesitated  to  become 
the  bride  of  Joseph  Waters,  the  successful  mechanic,  whose  fair 
fame  not  even  the  finger  of  scandal  had  dared  to  mar. 

The  summer's  sun  never  looked  down  upon  a  bridal  pair  more 
gloriously  than  it  did  upon  them  when  they  entered  their  cottage- 


2067999 


4          ALICE   WATERS;  OR,   THE  SJUVDOWJV  VICTORY. 

home,  amid  the  cheers,  congratulations,  and  heart  welcomes  of  the 
youth  and  maidens,  whose  skillful  devises  and  floral  gifts  had  im- 
parted to  it,  the  magical  beauty  of  a  fairy's  retreat. 

Like  a  flashing  meteor,  all  those  scenes  passed  through  Mrs.  Wat- 
ers' mind,  as  she  raised  her  tearful  eyes  to  the  besotted  form,  reel- 
ing through  the  doorway,  muttering  imprecations  upon  the  rude 
school-boys,  who  had  pelted  him  with  brick-bats,  pebbles,  and  mud- 
cakes  ;  jeering  and  shotting,  "There  goes  old  Joe  Waters,  drunk 
as  an  owl.  Won't  we  have  fun  with  him  boys,  up  to  his  old  hovel 
to-night,  when  he  gets  into  his  delirium  tantrums."  "I  say,  wife, 
I  ain't  drunk,  only  a  leetle  over.  The  fact  is,  Uncle  Ben,  down  to 
the  man  and  beast  entertainment;  that  is,  the  "Bottle  and  Sheaf," 
got  an  old  article  in  a  new  bottle;  and  I  tried  it,  and  found  it  jest 
the  thing,  that's  all ;  only  it  made  me  a  little  dizzy,  and  I  gave  him 
a  quarter  for  a  sixpence  ;  Ha,  ha,  ha  ;  that's  a  good  way  to  empty 
a  feller's  pocket. 

The  boys  thought  I  was  drunk,  because  the  ballast  was  all  gone, 
and  I  rolled  a  little,  just  like  a  half  inflated  balloon.  But  you  have 
anticipated  my  wants  zactly,  wife,  wil<h  a  good  cup  of  tea.  Now 
dry  up  your  tears,  and  give  us  a  sprinkle  of  sunshine,  and  a  bit  of 
bye-gone,  and  I'll  come  out  second  best  yet." 

"O,  yes,"  said  A  lie,  stepping  coaxingly  to  his  side.  "And  I'll 
Avash  all  the  dust  and  perspiration  from  your  face.  Bathe  your  head 
with  water  just  from  the  little  spring  down  in  the  hollow;  comb 
your  hair  'till  it  looks  bright  and  glossy  as  it  did  long  ago;  brush 
all  the  mud  nicely  from  your  besmattered  clothes  ;  and  then  Father, 
won't  you  go  with  us?  Oh,  Father  dear,  do  say  yes,  this  once,  to 
your  little  Alie;  for  Mother  will  be  so  glad.  And  Jennie,  and 
Josie,  and  Lettie,  and  I  will  be  so  happy. 

John  Lawton  told  me  to-day,  that  I  was  nothing  but  a  drunkard's 
child.  And  Laura  Lee  wouldn't  play  with  rne,  because  she  said  that 
my  Father  was  a  toper,  and  we  lived  in  an  old  shanty,  and  didn't 
have  anything  to  eat  but  bannock  and  browse  ;  and  she  didn't  think 
that  the  School  Committee  or  Miss  Manners  either,  ought  to  allow 
us  to  go  to  school  with  Ministers'  and  Lawyers'  and  Doctors'  and 
Merchants'  children.  And  her  Father  was  Esquire  Lee ;  and  her 
Mother  said  this  morning  when  Ben.  Blurt's  wife  called  from  the 
"Bottle  and  Sheaf,"  that  she  thought  something  ought  to  be  done 
about  it."  Mrs.  Blurt  said,  for  her  part,  she  had  about  made  up  her 
mind  to  send  her  daughters  to  "Moss  Hill,"  or  "Riverside,"  for  she 
was  sure  that  they  never  would  know  much  about  refinement,  if 
they  did  have  a  Miss  Manners  for  a  teacher,  so  long  as  such  children 
as  old  toper  Waters'  went  there  to  school." 

"And  they  made  fun  of  our  old  clothes  that  Mother  keeps  so 
clean,  and  patches  so  nicely;  and  called  us  rag-muftins,  and  said 
that  a  regiment  of  us  would  scare  Jeff.  Davis  out  of  Richmond,  and 
every  Eebel  out  of  Dixie.  And  they  thought  it  would  be  the  cheap- 
est way  that  Government  could  end  the  war,  by  putting  us  under 
some  enterprising  General,  and  marching  us  down  into  the  land  of 
niggers  and  cotton-bags.  Miss  Manners  didn't  hear  them  talking 
so  to  me ;  but  just  before  the  school  was  done,  she  said  that  a  Lady 
was  going  to  give  a  Temperance  Lecture  in  the  Town  Hall  this  eve- 


ALICE  WATERS;  OR,  THE  SJUVDOWJf  VICTORY.  5 

ning,  and  wished  us  to  tell  everybody  that  we  saw,  to  go  and  hear 
her.  I  was  so  glad  Father,  that  I  ran  all  the  way  home  to  tell 
Mother  and  you.  Won't  you  go,  Father,  just  this  once,  with  Moth- 
er and  all  of  us,  to  hear  a  Lady  give  a  Temperance  Lecture  ?" 

"It's  all  a  pack  of  nonsense,  Alie;  all  this  fulderol;  got  up  just 
to  make  money,  just  as  Ben.  Blurt  sells  rum,  to  pick  our  pockets : 
and  then  sends  his  wife  and  children  out  to  hoot  at  us,  and  call  us 
rag-muffins  and  scarecrows.  No,  Alie,  I  hain't  got  money  to  fool 
away  on  that  sort  o'  stuff.  "O,  but  Miss  Manners  said  that  we 
shouldn't  have  to  pay  anything  for  going  in.  She  said  that  the 
Lady  was  working  for  God  and  the  good  of  her  fellow-beings ;  and 
she  knew  that  He  who  told  His  Disciples  flbt  to  take  scrip  nor  staff 
with  them,  would  provide  for  her  journey.  Yes,  Father,  she  wants 
just  such  as  we,  who  have  no  money  to  give,  to  come  to  her  Lec- 
tui'e  ;  please  Father,  just  this  once." 

The  water,  combs,  and  brushes  were  brought  into  requisition  by 
Alie's  nimble  fingers,  which  seemed  to  possess  a  magical  power ; 
for  long  before  the  Lecture  hour,  she  had  transformed  that  be- 
smeared, besotted  face  into  the  image  of  a  man.  And  the  clothes, 
though  thread-bare  and  coarse,  looked  trim  and  tidy,  from  the  ani- 
mated application  of  Alie's  renovating,  skillful  exertions. 

Even  Mrs.  Waters  seemed  to  catch  the  electric  inspiration  which 
animated  her  child,  for  she  moved  around  with  something  of  the 
elacrity  of  other  days,  in  clearing  away  the  .fragments  of  their  scan- 
ty meal  and  arranging  the  clean  dishes  in  the  most  attractive  posi- 
tion, upon  the  little  shelf.  There  was,  too,  a  hopeful  light  beaming 
in  her  tear-faded  eyes,  as  something  of  the  bye-gone  seemed  float- 
ing back  into  her  heart,  surging  through  and  through  every  fibre, 
with  an  elevating,  life-giving  power,  which  had  so  long  been  a 
stranger  there. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

fHE  Town  Hall  was  'densly  crowded,  for  it  was  an  unheard  of 
event  for  a  woman  to  lecture  in  Sandown  ;  arid  everybody, 
from  the  aristocracy  down  to  the  dregs,  mingled  in  one  com- 
mon mass  for  the  nonce.  Even  Mrs.  Blurt  looked  in,  just  to  see 
what  the  woman  would  have  to  say  against  selling  rum.  "For  her 
part,  she  thought  that  business  just  as  good  as  any  other ;  and  when 
anybody  had  a  license  to  sell  it,  she  didn't  see  what  business  any- 
body had  to  interfere.  And  how  in  the  world  her  Ben.  could  keep 
a  public  house  without  selling  rum,  she  was  sure  she  didn't  know. 
Why,  it  was  the  main  stay  of  the  house,  and  did  more  towards 
clothing  and  feeding  the  family,  than  all  the  money  that  they  ever 
took  from  temperance  folks,  she  was  sure.  If  folks  were  a  mind  to 
make  fools  of  themselves  by  getting  drunk,  she  didn't  see  what  that 
was  to  them ;  they  held  their  license  by  permission  of  the  Legisla- 
ture; and  what's  law,  is  law."  Her  harangue  was  cut  short  by  a 
little  commotion  at  the  door,  and  a  low  whispering  at  the  door,  of, 
"She's  come ;  she's  come."  All  eyes  were  turned  in  that  direction, 


6         ULICE   WATERS;    OR,   THE  SAJYDOWJY  VICTORY. 

to  observe  a  plain,  unostentatious  looking  Lady  in  sable  garments, 
conducted  to  the  speaker's  stand  by  one  of  the  parish  ministers,  who 
had  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  temperance  cause,  and  also  be- 
lieved in  the  efficacy  of  a  woman's  effort,  in  suppressing  the  great  ^ 
evil  which  was  sweeping  like  the  devastating  tornado,  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  our  native  land. 

"Look  there,"  said  John  Lawton,  who  had  just  then  caught  a 
glimpse  of  another  group,  crouching  timidly  down,  in  the  most  re- 
mote corner  of  the  Hall,  as  if  afraid  of  the  glaring  light,  which  fell 
from  the  central  lamps ;  and  the  peering  eyes  of  the  heartless 
throng,  which  filled  the  spacious  room. 

"Look  there,  Jim  Lee ;  if  there  ain't  old  Joe  Waters  and  his 
whole  brood,  sneaking  off  into  that  corner,  just  as  if  they  had  a 
right  to  come  into  the  Hall,  with  all  the  first  families  of  Sandown. 
Well,  we  may  look  for  a  flood  next,  after  this  unexpected  flowing  in 
of  the  Waters.  He,  he,  he—" 

"I  shall  look  for  the  bursting  of  a  rum-barrel  first,  John,"  said 
Jim,  casting  a  malicious  glance  over  to  the  occupants  of  that  humble 
seat,  in  the  corner.  f 

"A  hogshead,-  you  mean,"  said  Laura,  catching  up  the  strain  of 
their  sneering  remarks. 

"Wouldn't  there  be  an  explosion ;  and  conflagration  too.  if  he 
should  come  in  contact  with  an  electric  spark,  from  one  of  those 
lighted  chandeliers  ?"  • 

•"I  guess,"  said  John,  "that  is  why  he  chooses  such  an  obscure 
seat.  Well,  I  only  hope  he  won't  make  his  appearance  this  way  in 
mercy  to  all  lovers  of  pure  air  and  free  ventilation,  while  our  egress 
is  blockaded,  as  it  is  at  present,  by  the  swaying  crowd." 

Calm  and  dignified  'rose  the  speaker ;  clear  and  distinct  her  voice 
reverberated  throughout  the  spacious  Hall,  attracting  the  attention 
of  the  audience,  and  even  arresting  the  rude  remarks  upon  the  hum- 
ble group,  screening  themselves  from  the  public  gaze,  in  the  shadow 
of  that  humble  seat  in  the  corner.  They,  too,  were  intently  listen- 
ing to  the  speaker's  remarks.  Every  word  that  floated  through  and 
through  the  spacious  Hall,  found  its  wa^  to  that  little  friendless 
group,  as  though  to  them  alone,  was  their  mission  of  peace  and 
hope  to  be  performed. 

First,  she  spoke  of  the  obstructions  which  were  thrown  in  the 
way  of  woman,  as  a  public  speaker  or  reformer,  by  many  powerful 
and  influential  opponents,  and  many,  very  many  whose  presence  at  a 
public  Lecture  on  temperance,  would  do  much  towards  turning  the 
scale  in  the  right  direction,  would  remain  at  home,  rather  than  give 
countenance  to  a  thing  so  absurd  and  ridiculous  as  a  woman  giving 
a  public  Lecture  on  any  subject,  however  important. 

"But,"  she  continued,  all  are  needed  in  this  warfare.  Some  for 
picket-duty ;  some  for  advance-guards ;  some  for  rear-guards ;  some 
for  life-guards ;  and  some  for  home-guards.  If  we  cannot  drive  the 
invaders  from  the  field  by  a  hand  to  hand  fight,  let  us  have  divisions 
here  and  there,  to  flank  him,  and  make  him  our  prisoner.  The  foe 
is  all  around  us ;  striding  dauntlessly  through  our  highways  and  by- 
ways, crouching  stealthily  around  our  dwellings,  thrusting  the  dag- 
ger fatally  to  the  heart's  core,  of  our  Fathers  and  Sons.  Desecrat- 


JlLICE   WATERS;  OB,   THE  S.WDOWJY  VICTORY.          <J 

ing  our  hearth-stones,  arid  laying  waste  all  the  beautiful  idols  we 
have  enshrined  in  our  hearts  and  homes.  Their  sacrilegious  hands 
have  polluted  our  sanctuaries;  have  stricken  down  the  watchmen 
upoii  the  walls  of  Zion,  and  rent  assunder,  the  holiest  ties  of  home 
and  love.  Have  made  Mothers  widows,  and  children  orphans. — 
Have  made  rich  men  beggars,  and  filled  the  church-yard  with  the 
victims  they  have  slain.  They  have  crowded  the  penitentiaries  with 
loathsome  occupants,  and  many  have  swung  from  the  hang-man's 
noose,  an  appalling  spectacle  to  some  heart-broken  wife ;  some  aged 
mother ;  or  homeless  orphan.  Hearts  have  bled  at  the  approach  of 
this  mighty  invader ;  cheeks  have  paled  when  the  sound  of  his 
chariot  wheels  have  been  heard  in  the  distance.  Burning  lips  have 
sent  forth  the  cry  of  anguish,  and  the  wild  pleadings  of  despair  have 
rent  the  air,  when  his  desolating  shadow  has  fallen  like  Egyptian 
darkness  upon  the  threshold' of  their  once  happy  home.  But  he 
strides  on  von — deaf  to  the  cries  of  despair ;  blind  to  the  tears 
which  drench  his  pathway,  from  heart-broken  widows  and  homeless 
orphans.  On — on — through  this  field  of  carnage  he  strides  victorious ; 
gloating  on  the  withering  desolations  his  power  has  wrought. — 
Where  are  his  opponents'?"  she  asked,  looking  earnestly  around 
over  the  sea  of  faces,  upturned  with  rapt  attention,  to  the  one  who 
addressed  them.  "Who  will  stay  the  hand  of  this  mighty  conquer- 
or 1  Is  there  no  little  David  amongst  you  ?  WTho  will  dare  to  go 
forth  with  the  sling  and  the  pebble,  to  meet,  and  to  slay  this  invad- 
ing giant  ?  To  palsy  the  strong  arm  which  is  raised  writh  such  de- 
precating power,  over  our  homes  and  the  loved  ones  there?" 

Again  her  eyes  wandered  inquiringly  over  the  audience,  as  if 
waiting  for  a  response  to  the  earnest  questions  which  had  fallen  from 
her  lips.  Far  away  in  the  shadow  of  a  remote  corner,  she  caught 
the  scintillations  of  two  earnest  eyes,  radiating  from  the  upturned 
brow  of  a  little  rounded  face,  all  aglow  with  intense  interest  and  ex- 
citement. For  a  moment  the  speaker  paused ;  her  eyes  rivetted  upon 
that  little  earnest  face  and  the  group  which  surrounded  it.  Then 
she  added : 

"Woman's  influence  has  decided  the  fate  of  many  a  battle-field, 
and  sent  the  wild  shout  of  victory  to  the  broken  ranks  of  the  vic- 
tors and  vanquished.  Shall  she  now  remain  inactive,  when  sire 
and  son  are  bound  unresisting  victims,  by  her  side,  and  led  captive 
to  a  bondage  more  cruel  and  hopeless  than  death  and  the  grave? — 
When  the  breath  of  the  monster  mingles  like  the  scorching  lava 
'mongst  the  fragrant  flower-buds  which  have  sprung  up  in  and  around 
our  life  path  ?  Where  his  shadow  falls  like  the  plagues  of  Egypt, 
upon  our  hearts  and  homes  ? 

"But  you  ask,  Who  is  this  mighty  invader  ?  This  great  monarch 
who  threatens  such  devastations  to  our  homes  and  dear  ones  ?  And 
from  whence  does  he  gather  his  forces,  so  fearful  in  their  battle  array  ? 

"His  name  is  Alcohol !  His  parade  grounds  are  Rum-shops  and 
Bar-rooms,  and  gilded  Saloons,  and  dark  cellar's,  where  the  wine 
sparkles  temptingly  in  crystal  goblets,  and  the  drunkard's  song  min- 
gles wiih  the  clashing  of  decanters  and  the  jingle  of  the  gambler  s 
dice.  His  Generals  are  the  Liquor  dealers.  His  badge  of  honor, 
the  bottle  of  Rum ;  and  his  martial  tread,  the  drunkard's  reel. 


3          ALICE  WATERS;  OR,   THE  SANDOWN  VICTORY. 

"Shall  we  gwe  him  the  right  of  our  highways  and  byways,  that  he 
may  lead  his  formidable  hosts  unmolested,  through  the  land,  where 
the  proud  Banners  of  Freedom  is  swaying  in  the  pure  mountain 
breezes,  over  our  homes  and  loved  ones?  Shall  we  give  him  the 
flattering  acclamations  of  greeting,  though  he  ride  in  gorgeous  state, 
upon  his  gilded  car,  when  our  dear  ones  are  crushed  in  hideous  mass- 
es, beneath  his  iron  wheels  ?  Shall  we  say  to  him,  Abide  with  us, 
when  his  pestilential  breath  is  slaying  its  thousands  by  our  side ;  deso- 
lating and  darkening  the  homes  once  gorgeous  with  happiness  and 
love  1  Shall  we  install  him  in  our  high  places  of  honor  and  power  ? 
And  place  at  his  command,  the  destinies  of  the  present  and  future 
generations  of  this  great  Republic  ?  No !  no !  If  you  do,  he  will 
despoil  you  of  your  birthright,  and  brand  you  with  a  name  more  in- 
glorious than  that  Avhich  sent  the  guilty  Cain  a  vagabond,  from  his 
father's  tented  fields.  Will  YOU  dare  to  raise  men  to  official  power, 
who  will  hold  the  poisonous  cop  to  his  lips  ?  Who  will  aid,  or  give 
countenance  to  a  Rum-seller,  or  his  nafarious,  soul-destroying  traffic  1 
If  so,  some  day  its  curse  will  fall  upon  your  own  head.  It  may  be 
the  casting  of  your  single  vote  for  a  Rum-seller  or  his  abettor,  which 
has  made  your  Brother,  or  Son ;  or  may  be  Wife,  a  drunkard. — 
Which  has  frenzied  the  brain  of  the  midnight  assassin ;  and  caused 
him  to  thrust  the  dagger  to  the  heart  of  his  friend,  or  brother  man. 
And  for  your  single  vote,  many  wives  have  been  made  widows  — 
many  children,  orphans.  And  many  orphans  have  been  made  beg- 
gars. Many  a  gray-haired  parent  has  gone  down  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave.  Many  a  hillock  has  been  reared  in  the  potter's  field.  Many 
a  broken  heart  has  throbbed  its  last  sigh  of  bitterness,  within  the 
gloomy  walls  of  an  Alms  House,  or  Lunatic  Asylum,  just  for  the 
casting  of  your  single  vote  for  a  votary  of  Rum.  Rather  let  the 
hand  be  palsied  by  thy  side,  than  raised  to  the  ballot-box  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  Rum-seller. 

"Did  you  ever  think  that  the  casting  of  that  single  vote  was  just 
the  one  which  decides  the  destinies  of  our  homes;  of  our  nation's 
welfare  ?  That  its  influence  moves  on — on — gathering  strength  and 
impetus  on  its  way,  'till  it  mingles  with  the  mighty  evolutions  which 
control  the  Universe ;  just  as  the  little  minutes  make  up  the  vast  ages 
of  Eternity?" 


CHAPTER  III. 


)  you  ever?"  said  the  mistress  of  the  "Bottle  and  Sheaf," 
^^  to  the  grocer's  wife,  who  sat  in  close  proximity  to  that  dis- 
tinguished individual.  "Well,  the  massy  only  knows  what 
we  are  coining  to,  for  I  don't,  when  our  husbands  can't  carry  on  a 
legitimate  business,  without  having  women  make  stump-speeches 
about  it.  I  believe  with  good  old  Paul,  that  a  woman  had  never 
ought  to  speak  in  public ;  but  if  she  wants  to  know  anything,  let 
her  ask  her  husband  at  home,  il  she  has  got  any ;  if  not,  let  her  be 
silent."  . 

"But,"  continued  the  speaker,  "I  would  not  have  you  understand 
that  the  man  who  barters  away  his  manhood  at  the  ballot-box,  in 


ALICE   WATERS:  OR,  THE  SANDOWJV  VICTORY.          9 

favor  of  this  soul-tlestroying  traffic,  is  alone  responsible  for  the  blight- 
ing curse  which  it  brings  upon  our  homes,  find  idols  there.  Women, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  is  the  secret  and  controlling  power  which 
nerves  his  arm  and  guides  his  hand  in  the  exciting  contest. 

"It  is  even  so.  Few  men  will  withstand,  or  controvert  the  wise 
councilings  of  an  affectionate  Mother.  Few  will  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  tender  pleadings  of  a  wife  whom  he  adores,  or  to  the  betrothed 
who  stands  by  his  side,  gorgeous  in  her  vouth,  beauty,  innocence 
arid  love.  Know,  then,  it  is  woman  whom  he  serves.  It  is  her  in- 
fluence by  which  he  i.s  controlled.  It  is  by  her  approval  that  the 
death-waters  are  deluging  our  streets  ;  burying  beneath  its  lava 
tide,  the  beautiful  fabrications  of  a  thousand  hearts  and  homes. — 
She  has  no  need  to  crowd  around  the  ballot-box,  or  occupy  the 
official  chair  in  Congress  Halls;  for  a  husband,  a  son,  or  brother, 
if  worthy  of  that  claim  and  position,  will  do  her  bidding,  and  faith- 
fully represent  her  to  the  law-givers  of  the  Land. 

"  'Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands,  and  let  her  own  works  praise 
her  in  the  gates,'  shall  be  the  proud  message  which  will  return  to 
you  upon  the  pure  breezes  of  Heaven,  and  which  shall  be  caught 
up  and  promulgated  by  every  son  and  daughter  you  have  redeemed 
from  the  bondage  of  this  terrible  monster.  Gray-haired  parents 
will  bless  you  when  they  see  their  Prodigal  Son  returning  trium- 
phantly to  manhood  and  honor.  Broken-hearted  wives  will  sing 
your  praises,  as  they  wipe  the  last  tears  of  anguish  from  their  pal- 
lid cheeks,  when  they  stand  again  by  the  side  ot  a  husband  your 
influence  has  reclaimed.  Desolate  widows  will  arise  from  their 
depths  of  despair,  throw  off  their  garments  of  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
when  the  joyful  tidings  reach  their  ears,  that  the  Son  who  was  dead, 
is  alive  again.  Alms-houses  will  be  vacated;  Lunatic  Asylums  will 
not  so  often  be  made  hideous  by  the  wild  screams  of  insanity,  min- 
gled with  the  ominous  clanking  of  heavy  chains.  The  dark,  damp 
walls  of  a  criminal's  cell  will  oftener  be  tenantless.  The  desert  will 
blossom  as  the  rose,  when  this  monster  has  been  dethroned.  And 
a  jubilee,  such  as  never  before  has  been  known  in  the  Land,  will 
resound  from  the  East  and  the  West,  from  the  North  and  the  South, 
in  honor  of  the  glorious  achievement,  wrought  by  the  mothers  and 
daughters  of  our  American  homes.  And  there  will  be  joy  in  Heav- 
en ;  and  the  approval  of  the  great  Alpha  and  Omega  will  shine 
upon  us  as  did  the  glorious  Star  over  the  plains  of  Bethlehem, 
cheering  and  encouraging  with  its  signs  of  promise,  the  Watchmen 
from  afar.  Is  not  this  enough  to  stimulate  every  mother  and  daugh- 
ter to  action  ?  To  move  forward  undauntedly  in  this  great  work  of 
reform  and  redemption  ?  To  annihilate  the  Dragon  who  has  thrown 
up  his  lofty  bulwarks  against  the  advancement  of  national  enter- 
prise and  freedom  ?  For  we  are  not  free  men,  when  bound  by  the 
degrading  shackles  of  Rum  and  intemperance. 

"No  enterprise  is  successful,  where  Eum  is  the  stimulous  to  action. 
No  home  is  a  paradise,  where  the  demon's  dark  shadow  has  fallen 
upon  the  threshold.  No  community  is  safe,  where  its  vile  and  loath- 
some traffic  is  tolerated.  Yet  notwithstanding  you  will  raise  men  to 
important  offices,  whose  distilleries  or  extensive  traffic  in  this  instru- 


JO        ALICE    WATERS;    OR,    THE  SAJVDOWJV  VICTORY. 

ment   of  death,  open  the  flood-gates   of  destruction,  from  whence 
flow  the  tens  of  thousands  of  poisonous  rills  through  the  Land. 

'  "Ought  we  to  have  rum-drinkers,  rum-sellers,  or  their  abettors,  to 
become  Rulers  or  Law-makers  of  the  land  ?  Who,  amort£  j'ou, 
will  answer  yes  ?  It  should  become  a  fixed  principle  among  you. 
Nay,  more.  It  should  become  a  Statute  Law  ;  a  National  Law  ; 
firm  and  unchanging  as  that  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  that  no 
rum-drinker  ;  no  vindicator  of  the  rum  traffic,  should  ever  be  raised 
to  or  tolerated  in  official  power,  within  our  borders.  Such  a  Law 
would  prove  the  life-preserver  of  this  great  Republic.  Then  the 
traffic  would  become  unpopular.  Rum-drinkers  would  be  reclaimed, 
distilleries  would  be  demolished.  And  we  should  see  the  morning 
star  of  melenial  glory  dawning  upon  us,  irradiating  with  its  lumi- 
nous brilliancy,  the  entire  Universe. 

"Should  a  man — let  me  ask  again — be  sustained  in  any  communi- 
ty, who  engages  in  such  a  traffic  ?  Sowing  broad-cast  the  seeds  of 
suffering,  crime,  and  death.  Desolating  homes,  blighting  the  fair- 
est prospects,  withering  the  brightest  hopes,  marring  and  defacing 
the  noblest  works  of  God.  Who,  among  you,  will  answer  yes  ? 
Who  will  not  rather  say  that  the  penalties  which  have  ever  been 
imposed  upon  his  victims,  are  more  justly  belonging  to  himself. 

"When  a  man  goes  out  from  those  dens  of  infamy  and  debauch, 
with  his  brain  maddened  and  deluged  with  the  seething  lava  with 
which  the  Rum-seller  has  tempted  his  burning  and  insatiate  thirst, 
is  he  more  guilty  if  he  thrusts  the  dagger  to  the  heart  of  his  fellow- 
man,  than  the  hopeless  Lunatic,  chained  within  his  grated  cell  ? — 
Would  he  have  committed  that  guilty  act  when  clothed  in  his  right 
mind,  ere  he  bartered  away  his  reason  for  the  wine  which  sparkled 
in  the  Rurn-sellar's  cup  ? 

"Who  will  not  rather  say  that  the  guilt  and  the  penalty  belongs  to 
the  man  who  furnished  him  with  that  instrument  of  death  ? 

"Too  little  sympathy  has  been  shown  to  that  unfortunate  class — 
the  Rum-drinkers.  He  has  been  cast  out  from  the  pales  of  respect- 
able Society.  He  is  despised  and  jostled  to  and  fro  ;  trampled  into 
the  filth  of  the  gutter  ;  cast  asido  from  your  sympathies.  And  when 
one  reels  along  with  bewildered  uncertainty,  towards  the  wretched 
hovel,  he  calls  his  home,  you  smile  encouragement  to  the  horde  of 
saucy  children  who  follow  him  with  their  taunts  and  jeers,  now 
and  then  tilting  him  against  a  lamp-post,  or  enveloping  him  in  a 
cloud  of  dust  and  sand,  they  have  thrown  out  to  annoy  him.  On, 
on,  they  follow  him,  with  their  coarse,  loud  shouts  and  mockeries, 
'till  some  petty  official  nabs  him,  drags  him  before  a  police  Court, 
to  hear  the  verdict  of  three,  six,  or  twelve  months  in  the  house  of 
correction.  And  this  is  to  reform  him  and  renovate  the  world. 

"Where  is  the  prime  mover  of  this  act  of  misdemeanor  and  de- 
bauch ?  Behind  the  screen  of  his  rum-shop,  gloating  over  the  dimes 
and  dollars  he  has  wrested  from  the  hand  palsied  by  the  poisonous 
beverage,  he  has  tempted  him  to  drink.  Or,  may  be,  repeating  the 
same  act  in  this  rum  drama,  with  another  victim.  You  don't  think 
of  arresting  him,  and  sending  him  to  pick  oakum  for  the  space  of  a 
few  months,  instead  of  his  less  guilty  victim.  Not  at  all ;  he  lives 
in  an  elegant  house  ;  belongs  to  your  modern  aristocracy,  and  is  one 


ALICE   WATERS;  OR,  THE  SJUVDOWJC  VICTORY.       \\ 

of  the  supporting  pillars  of  your  State,  city,  or  town  laws ;  and  may 
be,  is  your  Representative  to  Congress.  He  also  gives  large  dona- 
tions for  benevolent  purposes,  when  he  is  sure  it  will  find  its  way 
into  some  of  the  leading  journals  of  the  day.  He  is  one  of  ihe 
great  wheels  which  keeps  the  whole  machinery  in  operation.  You 
court  his  smiles  and  hang  upon  the  words  of  his  lips,  as  though  they 
were  the  inspirations  of  holy  writ.  Your  vote  has  been  cast  to  raise 
him  to  official  power,  amongst  the  Rulers  of  the  land.  His  occupa- 
tion receives  your  sanction ;  and  the  scorpian  you  are  nourishing, 
will  some  day  coil  himself  in  a  deadly  embrace,  around  the  heart- 
strings of  your  household  jewels.  Then,  'ere  it  is  too  late,  go  forth 
to  the  contest,  like  men  ;  like  women  :  firm  in  the  determination  to 
conquor  or  die. 

Demolish  the  strong  holds  and  fortifications  of  the  monster. 
Strike  down  the  weapons  which  have  been  reared  by  political  strife. 
Search  out  the  Easau,  who  would  barter  away  his  country's  birth- 
right for  a  mess  of  pottage.  Or  the  Judas,  who  would  betray  us  in- 
to the  hands  of  our  enemies,  or  sell  us  into  eternal  bondage,  for  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

. 

HALL  the  prey  be  taken  from  the  mighty,  or  the  lawful  cap- 
**ve  delivered  ?  But  thus  saith  the  Lord,  even  the  captives 
of  the  mighty,  shall  be  taken  away  ;  and  the  prey  of  the 
terrible,  shall  be  delivered.  For  I  will  contend  with  him  that  con- 
tendeth  with  thee,  and  I  will  save  thy  children. 

"  How  can  we  wrest  some  of  the  children  from  the  hand  of  the 
terrible  and  mighty  ? 

"Go  to  the  gutters ;  raise  from  thence,  your  brother  man.  Dis- 
robe him  of  his  filth,  degradation. 

"Pour  out  upon  the  lacerations  of  his  wounded  spirit  the  soothing 
balm  of  sympathy,  of  hope,  and  encouragement. 

"Lead  him  with  a  brotherly  hand  to  his  comfortless  home ;  to  his 
heart  broken  wife :  his  starving  children  and  there  in  the  spirit  of 
love  and  kindness,  wrestle  with  him,  in  his  sober  moments,  as  Ja- 
cob wrestled  with  the  Angel  of  God. 

"Restore  to  him  the  home  which  has  been  mortgaged  for  the  rum- 
seller's  poison.  Restore  to  him  the  reason  which  has  been  dethron- 
ed, by  the  wine  which  sparkled  iii  the  wine-sellers  cup.  Restore  to 
him  the  manhood  which  forsook  him  in  the  gutter.  Restore  to  him 
the  welcome  greeting  in  your  social  circle. 

''Give  to  him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  as  a  pledge  of  your 
good  faith  in  his  restoration  to  sobriety  and  honor,  and  your  labors 
will  not  be  fruitless.  He  needs  your  sympathy  ;  your  encourage- 
ment ;  and  the  firm  grasp  of  your  manly  arm.  He,  may  be,  has 
struggled  nobly  and  manfully  against  the  temptations  which  have 
dethroned  his  manhood.  He  has  wept  and  prayed,  where  none  but 
the  All-seeing  witnessed  his  painful  and  agonizing  heart-struggles. 
He  has  resolved  and  re-resolved  to  abstain  from  the  intoxicating  cup, 
and  pledged  himself  anew,  over  his  sleeping-babes,  'ere  he  left  them 
for  a  day  of  toil  in  his  office  or  work-shop.  But  the  Demon,  who 
coveted  his  gold,  met  him  on  his  way.  There  was  no  kindly  arm 


12       ALICE   WATERS;  OR,  THE  SJUVDOWJf  VICTORY. 

outstretched  to  save,  and  again  lie  fell.  Fell  from  his  good  resolves  .- 
from  his  honor ;  his  manhood ;  his  self-respect ;  an  3  from  the  respect 
of  his  brother  man. 

"Will  you  turn  from  him  in  this,  his  hour  of  bitter  need?  Will 
you  pass  him  by  qn  the  other  side?  Or  will  you  raise  him  from  his- 
depths  of  degradation  ;  lead  him  out  of  the  filthy  gutter  and  inirey 
clay,  and  never  desert  him  'till  you  have  set  his  feet  upon  the  sure 
arid  firm  rock  of  sobriety  and  honor." 

There  was  a  little  commotion  throughout  that  vast  assemblage.  A 
swaying  of  forms,  a  turning  of  faces,  which  had  been  upturned  to 
the  earnest  speaker  with  intense  interest.  A  low  buzzing  which 
sounded  like  the  fur-off  waters  upon  a  sandy  beach.  And  then  :t 
deep,  heavy,  unsuppressed  sob  within  the  shadow  of  that  remote 
corner. 

"I  told  you  there  would  be -a  flood,  or  an  inundation,  or  some- 
thing of  the  sort,"  said  John  Lawton,  "when  I  sa\v  the  Waters' 
coming  in  so  freely.  Look  Jim,  old  Joe  is  crying  ;  or  I  am  a  little 
so  —  so ;  one  of  the  six." 

'  "0,  no,"  said  Laura,  "he's  only  been  tapping  his  hogshead,  to 
let  out  a  little  of  the  gas;  he  will  feel  better  presently,  I  dare  say/' 
And  truly  enough,  old  Joe  Waters,  as  they  called  him,  was  crying, 
and  many  eyes  were  turned  in  that  direction  to  witness  the  won- 
derful event.  And  little  Alie,  her  pretty  face  bright,  glowing,  ancl 
innocent  as  an  Angel's,  with  now  and  then  a  sparkling  tear-drop 
rolling  from  out  the  heavy  lashes,  was  kneeling  at  his  side,  wiping 
away  the  tears  which  trickled  through  the  lingers  of  her  penitent 
Father. 

She  heeded  not  the  sea  of  faces  bent  upon  them.  She  heard  noth- 
ing of  the  coarse  jeers  which  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  or  the 
half  suppressed  giggle  which  those  vulgar  jokes  had  called  forth. 
She  only  knew  that  for  long,  long  years  her  Father  had  Ixeen  wan- 
dering astray ;  and  now  he  was  returning,  and  in  his  right  mind. 
"Thanks,  thanks  be  to  God." 

The  speaker  proceeds — "  Is  there  no  balm-in-gilead  ?  Is  there  no 
rain-bow  of  promise  spanning  these  dark  clouds  which  threaten  to 
engulf  us  by  their  gathering  blackness  .'  Is  there  no  iiaming  sword 
to  guard  the  .Edens  which  are  blooming  here  and  there  beneath  the 
broad  tree  of  our  boasted  Republic  ?  There  is.  To  the  mothers 
and  daughters  of  our  American  homes,  belong  the  mystic  power  of 
this  great  reform  and  redemption. 

"  Upon  you  depends  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  youth  who  are  cluster- 
ing like  olive  plants  around  your  board,  or  the  generations  which 
are  yet  to  walk  in  the  highways  you  may  cast  up  for  their  feet,  or 
grope  along  the  dark  forest-windings  where  the  thick  brushwood 
you  have  stumbled  over,  conceals  the  pitfalls  which  will  entrap  them. 
or  deliver  them  to  the  ferocious  beasts,  crouching  there  lor  their 
prey. 

"You  do  not  shrink  from  the  blast-ing,  desolating  breath  of  the 
plague  or  pestilence  which  sweeps  like  the  fearful  tornado  around 
and  within  your  dwellings. 

"You  do  not  turn  with  trembling  and  dismay  from  the  ghastly 
spectacle  which  disease  and  death  presents  to  you,  in  a  neighbor's 


ALICE    WATERS;   OR,   THE  SA»VDOU\V  VICTORY.        ]_)} 

home.  You  do  not  dose  your  doors  that  the  wild  cry  of  despair 
may  not  mingle  with  your  household  mirth;  men  tlee  in  dismay 
from  the  homes  of  pestilence  and  death,  but  woman  rushes  ear- 
lessly  into  the  midst,  to  the  rescue  of  its  helpless  victims. 

"  Softly  and  spirit-like  she  glides  from  one  apartment  to  another, 
laveing  the  throbbing  t«nples  :  holding  the  cooling  beverage  to  the 
parched  and  bloodless  lips ;  soothing  with  her  low  whisperings  the 
frenzied  impatience  of  helpless  victims:  closing  the  eyes  of  the  dy- 
ing, and  shrouding  the  form  that  lies  cold  and  stiif  in  the  repose 
of  death. 

"  Firm  and  fearless  to  the  last,  she  stands  at  her  post,  midst  that 
scene  of  devastation  and  woe.  In  many  a  home,  some  loved  one 
has  been  wrenched  from  the  monster's  grasp,  and  the  yawning  tomb, 
by  her  timely  efibrts  and  self-sacrificing  love. 

"And  then,  when  the  epidemic  has  passed  away,  and  healthier 
breezes  are  sweeping  over  the  land,  she  feels  that  her  mission  is  not 
all  performed.  Widows  are  left  homeless,  and  children  are  left  or- 
phans. And  like  the  good  Samaritan,  she  mingles  her  tears  with 
their' s,  and  pours  the  balm  of  consolation  into  their  crushed  and 
bleeding  hearts,  while  she  generously  divides  with  them  the  abun- 
dance which  God  has  kindly  intrusted  to  her  keeping. 

"  She  shrinks  not  from  the  appalling  spectacle  within  a  prisoner's 
cell.  And  where  man  has  deserted,  there  she  whispers  to  the  mana- 
cled criminal,  of  Hope — of  Heaven,  'till,  like  electricity,  her  voice 
thrills  every  iibre  of  his  heart  and  soul,  and  he  wrestles  in  faith  with 
the  God  to  whom  she  has  directed  him,  and  receives  the  joyful  as- 
surance that  his  sins,  though  many,  are  forgiven  him  ;  and  all  through 
the  instrumentality  and  gentle  teachings  of  a  true  and  faithful 
woman. 

"She  fears  not  the  scorching  rays  of  a  far-off  heathen  clime,  where 
many  an  unhappy  wife  has  been  wrenched  from  the  funeral  pyre; 
many  an  innocent  babe  from  the  Ganges  wave,  by  her  timely  efibrts. 
Many  a  sooty  mother,  as  she  chants  her  evening  song  to  her  rescued 
babe,  raises  her  heart  in  thankful  praise  to  the  Christian's  God,  for 
the  timely  teachings  of  a  true  and  noble  woman. 

"The  widow  and  the  fatherless  follow  her  with  words  of  praise  and 
grateful  emotions.  For  they  wei'e  hungry,  and  she  fed  them  ;  nak- 
ed, and  she  clothed  them ;  and  their  prayers  go  iip  to  Heaven,  like 
a  cloud  of  incense  in  behalf  of  her,  and  her  God-like  efforts. 

"Even  upon  the  battle-field,  she  has  rushed  unappalled,  through  the 
ranks  of  soldiery  and  the  blinding  smoke,  undaunted  by  the  thun- 
ders of  cannon  and  musketry,  to  the  rescue  and  relief  of  the  Avoun- 
ded  and  dying.  If  woman  has  done  all  this,  can  she  not  do  more? 
Will  she  not  do  more  ?  Will  she  not  arise  against  the  mighty  forces 
which  are  arrayed  against  the  honorable  advancement  of  her  cher- 
ished ones  I  Will  she  not  d:ish  the  poisonous  chalice,  raised  tempt- 
ingly to  the  lips  of  her  promising  boy  1  Or  cast  out  from  their  se- 
cret nooks,  the  instruments  of  death,  concealed  to  slay  her  noble 
husband  in  the  noontide  of  usefulness  and  manhood  I 

Never  tolerate  the  first  glass  at  home  or  abroad.  Never  suffer  the 
wine-bottle  to  be  called  into  requisition,  at  your  fashionable  banquets. 
Never  smile  encouragement)  when  the  glasses  pass  jovially  around 


14        ALICE    WATERS;   OR,    THE  SJljVDOWJV  VICTORY. 

at  another's  sumptuous  table.  For,  remember  that  a  woman's  smile 
of  encouragement  has  led  many  a  man,  and  woman,  too,  to  inebri- 
ation, and  to  perdition.  Yes,  many  a  woman  is  as  much  a  drunkard 
as  the  sot  who  lies  buried  in  the  filth  of  the  gutter." 

"  These  are  frightful  assertions,  but  nevertheless,  there  are  many 
who  know  their  truthfulness." 

"Better  be  like  the  over-sensitive  girl,  who  did  not  dare  to  smell  of 
the  rose,  for  fear  of  being  intoxicated  by  its  delicious  fragrance.  Or 
like  the  old  lady  who  refused  a  rum-drinker  the  loan  of  her  horse, 
for  fear  it  would  get  him  into  bad  habits." 

"  Is  it  not  a  pity  that  their  mantle'  did  not  fall  upon  some  of  the 
Ladies  of  the  present  day,  who  lavish  their  most  witching  smiles 
upon  a  rum-barrel,  because,  perchance,  it  assumes  the  garb  and  ap- 
pearance of  a  'gentleman  who  sports  a  splendid  equipage  or  occupies 
a  £orgeous  mansion?" 

•'  Never  smile  encouragement  to  the  man  who  will  press,  with  rap- 
turous delight,  the  wine-cup  to  his  youthful  lips.  Never  give  him 
your  heart  and  hand,  'till  he  gets  an  honorable  divorce  from  the  rum- 
jug,  and  a  quit-claim  of  rum-shops  and  gaming-saloons.  Don't  look 
at  his  handsome  face  or  genteel  figure,  while  he  hides  the  Demon 
Rum  beneath  his  rich  vestments." 

"But  the  sin  is  not  altogether  there.  I  have  known  ministei's  to 
keep  their  liquor-closets.  And  deacons  their  oil-jugs  ;  their  tincture 
of  rhubarb  ;  their  spiced'  bitters,  in  case  of  an  attack  of  some  chronic 
disease,  with  which  their  imagination  was  afflicted.  What  wonder, 
then,  that  subordinate  church-members  get  light-headed  over  the 
fumes  of  brandy  they  make  use  of  for  a  weak  back  or  sprained  limb  '?" 

"  Is  it  then  any  longer  a  mystery  how  King  Alcohol  obtained  his 
seat  of  honor  amongst  us  ?  Is  it  longer  a  mystery  how  he  sustains 
it  ?  Or  that  he  rides  in  gorgeous  state  upon  his  gilded  car,  unmo- 
lested, through  our  streets  and  highways  ?" 

"  Is  it  a  marvel  how  the  many  little  votes  find  their  way  into  the 
official  ballot-box  ?  The  majority  of  these  votes  are  thrown  careless- 
ly in,  not  by  professed  rum-drinkers,  but  by  men  who  keep  their 
liquor-closets  in  a  sly  corner,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  house- 
hold, or  for  medical, purposes." 

'•  He  is  more  of  a  man  who  wallows  in  the  filth  of  the  gutter,  than 
the  one  who  sneakingly  hides  himself  behind  the  screen  of  his  liquor- 
closet." 

"  So  long  as  you  suffer  the  interests  of  the  rum-party  to  be  decided 
by  the  ballot-box,  just  so  long  will  the  majority  of  votes  be  cast  for 
the  rum  traffic.  Let  it  no  longer  be  made  a  hobby  to  obtain  official 
power.  Look  at  the  result  of  your  blind  proceedings.  For  surely 
the  increasing  Distilleries  and  Rurn-shops,  Alms-houses,  Peniten- 
tiaries, the  wives  and  children  of  inebriates,  the  victims  of  this  po- 
litical rum-traffic,  and  police  Courts,  will  answer.  Away  with  this 
terrible  monster ;  let  him  find  no  foothold  or  hiding-place  amongst 
the  honorable  Law-givers  of  this,  our  boasted  Republic." 

"  And  I  am  sure  there  are  temperance  men  and  temperance  women 
enough,  to  drive  him  from  this  field  of  carnage,  where  he  now  strides 
victorious,  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  victims  he  has  slain,  and 
crushed  beneath  the  wheels  of  his  moving  iu 

~ 


ALICE    WATERS;   OR,   THE  SjJJ\"DOH7j\"  VICTORY.        ]_£ 

"Courageous  work  and  faith  combined,  are  the  materials  to  kill  the 
monster  Alcohol ;  to  destroy  his  lite-guards ;  beat  back  the  strong 
forces  stationed  to  defend  him,  all  over  our  beautiful  land.  Only 
make  use  of  these  materials,  and  the  work  is  done;  the  monster  is 
dethroned.  Our  homes  are  redeemed,  and  we  are  free. 


CHAPTER   V. 

/^S3^ 

Mf  '(TpyNE  of  the  materials  is  this,"  she  continued,  at  the  close  of  her 
.  .%j%)  Lecture,  unfolding  a  large  roll,  which  contained  a  temper- 
ance pledge,  and  the  names  of  hundreds  who  had  thus 
manifested  their  intention  of  becoming  laborers  in  the  great  harvest 
field  of  a  temperance  reform. 

"  How  many  Volunteers  will  enlist  in  the  glorious  cause  amongst 
..you  ?  Remember  it  is  to  redeem  your  homes  and  love  ones  from 
the  most  deadly  and  devastating  foe,  that  has  even  invaded  our 
shores ;  from  a  bondage  more  cruel  than  the  the  grave,  that  has 
cursed,  and  desecrated  our  hearth-stones.  Where  is  the  lady,  or  the 
gentleman,  who  will  signify  to  the  audience,  and  the  World,  that 
they  have  taken  their  stand  on  the  side  of  Temperance,  and  reform  I 

.,Have  you  intemperate  friends?  None  just  ready  to  plunge 
over  the.  terrible  abyss,  with  outstretched  arms,  crying,  "Save  me! 
save  me!  or  I  perish."  Are  you  all  riding  safely  and  smoothly 
over  the  sea  of  life  ?  Past  the  breakers,  and  the  sand  bars,  and 
whirlpools,  which  have  swallowed  up  thousands  upon  thousands, 
which  were  floating  fearlessly  as  yourselves,  all  in  sight  of  the  am- 
brosial flowers,  elysian  fields,  and  sunlit  shores  of  fame  and  for- 
tune. 

"But  the  little  cloud,  floating  in  the  azure  depths  of  a  summer  sky 
like  a  fleecy  vapor,  above  the  smooth  surface  of  the  sparkling  tide, 
gathered  here  and  there  an  atom,  from  the  foamy  spray  until  it  be- 
came fearful  in  its  magnitude  and  strength ;  shutting  out  the 
glorious  sunlight;  the  beautiful  fields,  gorgeous  flowers,  and  coveted 
shore,  lashing  with  its  furious  breath  the  wild  waste  of  water,  into 
the  dangerous  whirlpools,  mocking  even  the  wild  cry  of  "  Save 
me!  save  me!"  as  they  found  themselves  iu  the  deadly  grasp  of  the 
yawning  gulf." 

She  had  come  down  from  the  speaker's  desk,  and  was  standing 
upon  the  edge  of  the  platform,  with  her  hands  extended,  and  her 
form  bent  entreatingly  to  the  audience,  with  her  massive  scroll  sway- 
ing to  and  fro,  coaxingly  and  invitingly  over  that  sea  of  wondering, 
anxious,  undecided  faces,  upturned  to  the  earnest  speaker,  listening 
with  intense  interest  to  the  inspirations  which  fell  from  her  lips,  as 
though  she  were  indeed,  some  spirit  of  mercy,  extending  her  arms 
to  pluck  them  from  the  gulf  which  was  yawning  to  receive  them. 

For  a  moment  a  hushed  and  breathless  stillness  pervaded  the  en- 
tire assemblage ;  then  a  slight  rustling  far  away  in  the  obscurity  of 
a  remote  corner,  nearer  and  nearer,  like  a  soft  summer  zephyr,  it 
seemed  floating  through  that  hushed  assemblage. 

Alie  Waters  had  edged  her  way  with  trembling  timidity  through 
the  long  aisle,  'till  she  stood  beneath  the  swaying  scroll,  her  little 


IQ       ALICE   WATERS;  OR,  THE  S AND O 'WJV  riCTORY. 

round  face  upturned,  all  aglow  with  excitement,  her  beautiful  eyes 
sparkling  wirh  emotion,  her  ruby  lips  tremulous  with  fear  and  un- 
certainty, as  she  whispered  :  *«,-: 

"Please,  mam,  can  little  girls  and  little  boys  sign  your  temperance 
pledge?  O,  I  want  to  be  a  temperance  girl  so  much  ;  and  so4  does 
Jennie  and  Josie.  and  Lettie — all  of  us.  And  I  have  come  up  to 
ask  you  if  I  may  write  all  our  names  down  on  that  paper.  O,  I 
know  we  shall  be  so  happy  when  we  are  temperance  children ;  and 
then  we  shan't  care  if  John  Lawton  does  call  us  rag-muffins  and 
scare-crows.  O,  if  my  Father  would  only  feign  your  pledge,  too  ; 
and  I  know  my  mother  will,"  she  continued,  after  having  traced 
tho.se  four  pretty  names  upon  the  vacant  space. 

"  I  Avill  come  back  again,"  she  said,  whispering  to  the  Lady  upon 
the  stand,  as  a  new  thought  seemed  to  pervade  her  mind.  And 
away  like  a  iloating  zephyr,  she  glided  on  —  on  —  'till  she  knelt  in  a 
beseeching  attitude,  by  her  weeping  Father. 

"Dear  Father,"  she  whispered,  "  I  have  signed  the  pledge,  and  so 
has  Jennie  and  Josie,  and  Lettie.  And  now,  Father,  dear,  please 
sign  it  too,  and  we  shall  be  so  happy;  and  Mother  won't  cry  any 
more;,  and  the  boys  won't  throw  mud-cakes  and  brick-bats,  and  say, 
'  there  goes  old  Joe  Waters,  drunk  as  an  owl.'  And  Ben.  Bluri. 
won't  take  any  more  of  your  quarters  that  we  need  for  bread;  and 
•we  shall  never,  never  be  called  scare-crows  again ;  nor  the  children 
of  an  old  drunken  Father. 

"  And  you'll  grow  good  and  healthy,  and  handsome,  and  happy. 
And  we  shall  all  be  proud  that  our  Father  is  a  temperance  man  ;  and 
we  needn't  live  in  that  old  shanty  any  longer,  because  you  will  be 
proud  and  good,  as  you  was  before  you  went  into  old  Ben.  Blurt's 
bar-room.  And,  dear  Father,  Mother  is  going,  too;  don't  stay  here 
all  alone,  please  don't,"  She  took  her  Father's  trembling  hand  and 
led  him  unresistingly  through  the  wondering  crowd,  up  to  the  speak- 
er's stand,  and  with  a  look  of  proud  triumph,  she  said,  "My  Father 
is  going  to  be  a  temperance  man." 

For  a  moment  Joseph  Waters  stood  erect,  wiping  away  the  blind- 
ing tears;  then  casting  one  sweeping  look  over  the  astonished  mul- 
titude, answered,  firmly  and  distinctly,  "  Yes,  thanks  be  to  God,  to 
this  woman  and  little  Alie,  I  am  going  to  be  a  temperance  man. 
Nothing  but  the  wine  that  God  brews,  shall  henceforth  sparkle  in 
the  cup  that  is  raised  to  my  lips. 

"I  have  drank  to  the  bitter  dregs.  I  was  just  on  the  verge  of  the 
whirlpool,  which  never  lets  go  its  deadly  grasp.  I  had  got  into  the 
strong  current,  and  was  rushing  down,  down,  over  the  horrible 
breakers,  where  no  mortal  arm  could  save  me.  Wife,  children  and 
home  were  forgotten,  in  the  wild  excitement  and  madness  which 
hurried  me  on —  on  —  to  destruction  and  perdition. 

k;  The  child  has  grasped  the  Lion  by  the  mane,  and  trampled  the 
Adder  beneath  her  feet ;  and  through  her  instrumentality  I  am  saved. 
The  name  of  Joseph  Waters,  traced  upon  this  pledge,  shall  attest 
the  truthfulness  of  my  assertions. 

"  Who,  of  my  old  associates,  will  bear  me  company  ?  Come  now, 
my  comrades  of  the  bacchanalian  bowl;  come  now,  'ere  your  cry  of, 
'  save  me,  save  me,  or  I  perish,'  goes  out  too  late." 


ALICE   WATERS;  OR,   THE  SA<V£>01FJ\~  VICTORY.       ]_7 

Another  little  commotion  was  visible  through  the  dense  crowd, 
and  one  after  another,  of  Sundown's  tipplers,  grasped  their  old  com- 
rad,  Joseph  Waters,  by  the  hand,  saying,  "we  have  long  borne  each 
other  company,  and  we  will  not  part  to-night.  "VVe  will  not  wallow 
in  the  gutter  while  you  are  pursuing  the  highway  which  leads  to  tor- 
tune  and  honor.  We,  too,  have  been  plucked  from  the  consuming 
fire ;  from  the  yawning  gulf,  by  the  little  hand  and  earnest  entrea- 
ties of  a  true  and  noble  woman." 

Many  more  followed  the  good  example  of  Alice  Waters,  wrho?e 
name  stood  first  on  the  temperance  list  of  Sandown,  on  that  event- 
ful evening  of  a  (female)  temperance  Lecture. 

"  And  now,"  said  they  all,  who  that  evening  had  taken  a  stand 
on  the  side  of  temperance  and  reform,  "  now  let  us  give  three  cheers : 
three  rousing  cheers  for  the  Lady  who  has  dared  to  do  what  woman 
lias  never  done  before :  come  into  Sandown,  right  in  the  midst  of 
our  Rum-shops,  Bowling-saloons  and  Shanties,  reeking  with  the 
fumes  of  Distilleries  and  debauch ;  black  with  infamy  and  neglect ; 
noisy  and  clamerous  'till  the  midnight  hour;  hideous  with  appalling 
curses  and  the  bacchanalian  songs.  With  homes  deluged  by  the 
overflowings  of  the  turbid  waves  of  intemperance,  rolling  their  dark 
shadows  of  death  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  entire  com- 
munity." 

"And  for  what?  For  the  accommodation  of  rum-sellers  and 
their  nefarious  abbettors,  notwithstanding  the  ruin  and  death  caused 
by  its  unhallowed  influence  and  the  hundreds  of  young  men  sacrificed 
through  their  agency  upon  that  bloody  moloch.  It  was  made  a  hob- 
by to  obtain  official  power ;  and  there  was  a  Judas  in  the  midst,  who 
had  his  eyes  on  the  bag  which  contained  the  tribute  money." 

"  From  this  night,  let  us  tolerate  no  more  rum-selling,  nor  rum- 
drinking  in  our  midst.  And  now  let  our  cheers  ring  out,  as  cheers 
never  before  reverberated  through  the  aisles  of  Sandown  Hall,  for 
the  woman  who,  without  money,  and  without  price,  has  so  faithfully 
and  so  eloquently  addressed  us  on  this  eventful  evening. 

"  And  three  cheers  more  for  Alie  Waters,  who  has  headed  the 
van  to  this  great  and  glorious  reform."  '  Alie  Waters.'  Let  that 
be  our  pass-word,  our  watch-word,  our  countersign.  And  let  her 
name  become  a  household-word  in  every  home  she  has  redeemed 
from  the  curse  of  Rum. 

"  Let  'Alie  Waters'  be  emblazened  in  letters  of  gold,  upon  every 
badge  which  composes  the  regalia  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of 
temperance  and  reform." 

And  the  old  Hall  shook  as  never  before,  while  the  thunders  of 
applause,  and  cheer  upon  cheer,  reverberated  and  re-reverberated 
throughout  its  spacious  walls. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

you  ever  ?"   said  Mrs.  Blurt,  to  Mrs.    Grocer  Smith,    as 
they    edged    their    way    out   from  the    excited    throng 
and  deafning  cheers,  reverberating  through   the  old   Hall. 
"  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  whirlwind  as  that  woman   has   got  up 
in  Sandown  this1  evening  ?"     I  don't  believe  in  women  Lectures,  at 


18        ALICE   WATERS;  OR,   THE  SJUfDOWJV  VICTORY. 

all.  My  Ben  said  no  good  would  come  of  it,  when  he  heard  that 
she  was  going  to  give  a  Lecture,  without  any  admission  fee.  Why, 
you  know  there  have  been  a  good  many  men  along  now  and  then, 
to  give  Temperance  Lectures,  but  they  hired  the  hall  and  had  a 
good  smart  price  for  admission,  and  nobody  went  to  hear  them,  on- 
ly those  who  didn't  drink  at  all,  and  those  who  had  plenty  of  money 
to  spare  and  the  like. 

"But  old  Joe  Waters  and  his  clique — la  !  they  never  thought  of 
spending  a  quarter  to  go  and  hear  a  man  tell  them  that  they 
mustn't  drink  any  more  rum.  Why,  I've  heard  old  Joe  Waters, 
say  many  times,  if  these  men  were  in  earnest  and  wanted  to  reform 
them,  and  do  all  the  good  they  could,  why  did'nt  they  go  out,  as 
the  old  Apostles  went  in  olden  times,  without  purse  or  scrip — be- 
cause, he  said  a  laborer  was  worthy  of  his  hire.  And  if  they  had 
the  good  of  their  fellow  beings  in  view,  rather  than  filling  their 
pockets  with  filthy  lucre  ;  and  would  labor  without  money  and  with- 
out price,  that  their  efforts  would  be  rewarded,  and  the  Master  who 
who  sent  them  into  the  harvest  field,  would  see  that  they  didn't 
want  for  bread. 

"Well,  .you  see,  none  such  ever  came  to  Sandown,  till  this  woman  ; 
and  I  don't  believe  in  Woman's  Rights  at  all,  Mrs.  Smith.  Well 
as  I  was  going  to  say,  till  this  woman  drop't  down  fro-m,  the  Lord 
knows  where,  I  dont :  right  in  our  midst,  and  gave  out  a  notice  for 
a  free  lecture  in  the  Town  Hall,  inviting  every  rum-drinker  and 
drunken  sot,  to  come  and  hear  her. 

"Did  you  ever  see  such  audacity  in  a  woman?  And  to  stand  up 
before  so  many,  with  such  a  brazen  face,  and  talk  in  the  way  she 
did.  How  she  put  it  on  to  Esquire  Lee  and  Deacon  Lawton.  Why, 
they  buy  more  brandy,  for  the  rheumatiz  and  dispepticks,  than  Joe 
Waters  and  all  his  clique,  for  their  appetites.  All  the  difference  is, 
they  go  to  bed,  because  their  rheumatiz  or  dispepticks,  or  sun- 
then  is  a  little  wus,  and  Joe  Waters,  lays  down  in  the  gutter.  He's 
drunk  and  they  are  sufferin  from  their  ale-mints.  It's  nothing  to 
us  you  know,  what  use  they  make  of  it,  so  long  as  we  get  a  pretty 
good  price,  and  hard  cash  at  that. 

"Why,  my  Ben  says — and  we've  kept  the  'Bottle  and  Sheaf 
some  ten  years,  more  or  less — that  he's  laid  up  a  thousand  dollars, 
clear  profit,  from  the  liquor  barrels  every  year.  And  he  aller's 
thought  Sandown  was  the  best  place  for  his  business,  that  he  could 
find  anywhere  this  side  of  Mason  and  Dixie. 

"  And  now  to  think  that,  that  brazen-faced  woman  must  come 
and  get  up  such  a  whirlwind  in  public  sentiment,  and  turn  all  our 
plans,  topsy-turvy,  just  at  this  time,  when  Ben  was  going  to  build 
that  elegant  house,  on  that  piece  of  land,  Joe  Waters  sold  for  rum, 
and  we  got  it  terrible  cheap  too.  I  say,  just  at  this  time,  when  Betsy 
Ann,  was  going  to  marry  the  richest  man  in  town,  and  we  wanted 
to  give  her  such  a  grand  outfit,  and  all  that." 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Blurt,"  answered  Mrs.  Grover  Smith,  it  is  a  terrible 
pity  that  that  woman  did  come  jest  now ;  for  Mr.  Smith  never  had 
his  cellars  so  full  of  liquors,  in  the  twenty  years  that  he's  kept  store 
in  Sandown. 

"  He  said  that  prices  were  rising  so  fast,  and  so  much  senifc  away 


ALICE   WATERS;   OR,   THE  S.WDOWJY  VICTORY.        JQ 

to  the  army  here  and  there,  that  lie  didn't  think  that  he  could  lay 
in  too  much  of  the  critter,  while  'twas  cheap,  and  more'n  that,  he 
expected  to  make  the  greatest  spec  thai  he  had  ever  made,  since  he 
had  moved  into  Sandown. 

"  And  now,  I'm  afraid  his  fat  is  all  in  the  fire,  and  he  jest  been  to 
the  expense  to  renew  his  license,  and  then  to  lay  in  such  a  surplus 
besides ;  so  that  he  could  make  great  profits  when  the  prices  were 
up.  And  we  were  jest  fixin  Sally  Mariah  and  Victory  Jane  off*  to 
the  city,  for  a  winter  campaign ;  and  John  has  got  to  go  to  another 
college,  because  old  Harvard  took  a  notion  to  sniff  up  their  nose,  at 
sornethin  that  he  did  or  didn't  do,  I  don't  know  which,  and  if  that 
liquor  has  to  stay  in  the  cellar  without  being  sold,  and  who  knows, 
but  what  those  new  candidates  or  reprobates,  or  what  do  you  call 
them,  of  tempei'ance,  may  get  so  over  zealous,  that  they  will  make 
a  bonfire  of  it,  or  wash  out  the  old  gutters,  that  Joe  Waters  and 
Jack  Long,  and  a  score  of  others,  have  taken  for  a  way  side  Inn. 

"  Well  I  don't  know  Avhat  the  world  is  coming  to  next.  But 
this  I  do  know,  that  I  don't  like  such  liberal  minded  ministers,  as 
that  Methodist  Men-it. 

"  Only  think  of  his  toe-nailing  that  woman,  into  Sandown  Hall, 
and  introducing  her  to  such  a  crowd  of  spectators.  Well  I  never 
went  to  hear  him^preach,  and  never  shall.  And  asto  woman's  rights, 
I  don't  believe  in  them  at  all  Mrs.  Blurt,  and  I  motion  that  we  peti- 
tion Legislature  to  put  a  stop  to  it  altogether,  if  they  want  to  sell 
any  more  licences  for  the  liquor  trade." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

morning  following  the  memoriable  event  in  Sandown  Hall, 
Alie  Waters  went  tripping  along  lightly  to  the  village  School, 
and  with  a  heart  throbbing  with  joyous  emotions ;  and  a  face 
over  which  the  happy  smiles  were  dancing  with  the  roses  and  dim- 
ples and  sunlight,  which  sparkled  out  from  the  clear  depths  of  her 
beautiful  eyes,  glided  buoyantly  into  the  school-room,  grasping  the 
teacher  by  the  hand,  exclaiming,  "O,  Miss  Manners,  I  wanted  to 
tell  you  so ;  my  Father  is  a  temperance  man,  and  I  am  so  bappy. 
Now  we  can  go  to  school  all  the  year  'round,  and  the  children  won't 
say.  '  There  comes  old  Jo£  Waters'  rag-jags  and  scare-crows.' 
And  mother  says  we  shan't  be  hungry  any  more;  and  the  old  cot- 
tage is  going  to  look  almost  as  good  as  new,  and  we  can  go  to  meet- 
ing andi  to  the  Sunday-school,  where  we  went  ever  so  long  ago ;  and 
they  won't  call  us  names  and  say,  'How'»s  your  Dad;'  and  'Does 
your  Marm  know  you  are  out  T  And  make  fun  of  our  clothes  and 
our  patched  shoes,  and  our  old  Bible,  and  little  Jennie's  curls,  and 
Josie's  hat.  And  Father  never  will  go  to  old  Ben.  Blurt's  again; 
nor  lay  in  the  gutter,  nor  let  John  Lawton  and  Jim  Lee  pelt  him 
with  mud-cakes.  And  he  never  will  make  my  Mother  cry,  and  keep 

us  up  all  night,  with  his  delirium  dandrums;  and  " 

"  And  I  know  more  than  that,"  said  Miss  Manners,  smiling  at  the 
happy,  earnest  gestures  and  expressions  of  the  noble  child.  "  I 
know  a  little  Alie  Waters,  who  teased  her  Father  so  prettily  that  he 


20       ALICE   WATERS;    OR,   THE  SANDOWJV  VICTORY. 

could  not  say  no,  to  go  with  her  to  the  Town  Hall.  And  then  she 
knelt  and  wiped  away  his  tears  so  tenderly,  and  took  his  hand  so 
entreatingly  when  she  asked  him  to  throw  away  his  rum-jug  and 
sign  a  temperance  pledge;  and  told  him  that  she  and  Jennie,  and 
Josie  and  Lettie,  were  temperance  children  ;  and  Mother  was  only 
•waiting  for  him  to  go  with  her ;  and  'O,  Father  dear,  do  go,  just 
this'once,  with  little  Alie,  please.' 

'•  Then  she  led  him  through  the  jeering  crowd,  seeing  nothing, 
hearing  nothing,  but  her  poor,  perishing  Father,  and  his  cries  of, 
'  Save  me !  save  me  !'  Yes,  her  little  hand  grasped  him  with  a  de- 
termination to  hold  on,  until  his  feet  were  on  the  firm  rock  of  safety 
and  in  the  high  road  to  sobriety  and  honor.  f 

"Who  of  all  my  school,"  she  continued,  casting  her  eyes  over  the 
well  filled  seats,  "  who  of  my  school,  has  achieved  such  a  victory 
as  Alie  Waters  f '  , 

"  She  has  led  on  a  band  of  the  most  degraded  and  hopeless  of 
Sandown's  tipplers  to  victory  and  reform,  with  a  zeal  and  determi- 
nation that  has  known  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 

''•And  Alie  Waters,  gentle  Alie  Waters,  is  destined  to  become  a 
ouschold  oracle,  wherever  a  son  or  daughter  of  temperance  and 
reform,  have  planted  their  glorious  standard." 

Two  years  have  passed  away  since  the  eventful  evening  when  & 
woman  gave  a  Temperance  Lecture  in  Sandown  Hall,  where  the 
name  of  Alie  Waters  was  first  upon  the  pledge. 

Has  old  Joe  Waters  broken  his  pledge  ?  Has  he  ever  become 
intoxicated  ?  Or  lain  in  the  gutter  ?  Or  had  any  of  his  "  delirium, 
dandrums?"  Never!  From  that  evening  he  set  his  face  as  a  flint 
against  every  temptation.  He  walked  hand  in  hand  with  his  old 
comrads  ;  but  not  over  to  Ben.  Blurt's  bar-room  ;  not  into  the  gut- 
ter ;  nor  even  into  grocer  Smith's  cellar. 

But  he  took  an  opposite  direction,  high  and  dry,  where  the  sun- 
beams sparkled  in  gorgeous  splendor,  'midst  the  fragrant  blossoms 
that  bestrewed  his  pathway.  It  was  very  evident  that  Joseph  Wat- 
ers had  got  to  go  up,* if  he  went  at  all,  for  he  was  down,  down  to 
the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  even  wallowed  in  the  mire. 

There  were  some  good  men  in  Sandown,  and  they  helped  him 
a  step  or  two,  up  the  hill.  First,  they  all  went  to  give  him  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  as  the  Lecturer  had  suggested.  But  every  hand 
had  a  gift  to  bestow  upon  some  member  of  the  household. 

The  liberal  minded,  minister,  Mr.  Merrit,  had  a  new  Biblo  with 
purple  velvet  cover  and  golden  clasp,  for  Alie.  His  wife  and  some 
of  her  sister  church-members  astonished  her  with  a  complete  Sun- 
day outfit,  for  which  she  knew  not  how  to  express  her  thanks  and 
admiration  —  only  by  a  flood  of  sparkling,  laughing,  frolicking 
tears,  that  would  chase  each  other  in  merry  mood  around  the  dim- 
ples of  her  rosy  cheeks. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waters  were  made  the  recipients  of  many  a  gener- 
ous and  needful  gift ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  drunkard's  hovel  was 
transformed  into  a  beautiful  little  fairy-like,  looking  cottage,  all  by 
the  generous  exertions  of  the  liberal-minded  minister,  and  some  by 
his  warm  hearted,  active  temperance  friends,  who  were  ready  to 
roll  away  every  stumbling  block  which  obstructed  the  rugged  ascent 


ALICE   WATERS;  OR,  THE  SJlJVDOWJV  VICTORY.       21 

of  Joseph  Waters,  which  little  Alie,  aided  by  the  eloquence  of  her 
who  labored  not  for  hire,  had  led  him  into. 

And  old  Judge  Bliss,  who  had  labored  with  all  his  might  and 
main  to  overthrow  the  usurper  which  had  taken  such  a  conspicuous 
position  in  Sandown,  and  sent  in  eloquent  appeals  and  petitions  in 
vain,  to  the  Legislature,  against  the  license  system,  was  so  elated 
with  the  little  whirlwind,  that  a  woman  had  set  in  motion,  and  the 
hurly  burly  which  it  caused  amongst  the  votaries  of  rum,  that  he 
went  right  up  to  Joe  Waters'  hovel  and  shook  him  with  such  a 
hearty  grasp  that  Alie  thought  he  had  got  into  another  delirium 
dandrum. 

But  she  soon  found  out  her  mistake,  when  the  old  Judge,  after 
the  introduction  of  a  hearty  shake  in  which  his  bandanna  was  called 
into  requisition  several  times,  pulled  out  a  huge  roll  of  Uncle  Sam's 
"promise  to  pay,"  and  told  him  that  he  was  commissioned  to  deliv- 
er that  to  the  man  who  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the  old  monster 
Alcohol,  and  taken  a  decided  position  on  the  other  side  of  the  house. 

Joe  Waters  couldn't  stand  that,  and  he  fell  right  down  on  his 
knees,  as  he  had  many  times  before,  in  the  old  gutter,  grasping  the 
old  Judge  by  the  knees,  trying  with  all  his  might  to  say  something 
that  wouldn't  come  through  the  cobwebs  in  his  throat.  But  the  old 
Judge  said  it  was  no  matter  about  that,  and  he  would  see  him  a 
sometime,  when  this  little  squall  had  blown  over.  He  was  evident- 
ly  in  a  hurry,  for  he  made  his  exit  through  the  hovel-door,  flourish- 
ing his  bandanna  vigorously  —  in  a  style  that  would  compete  with 
any  "two  forty"  this  side  of  Dixie. 

Two  years  have  passed  away  since  the  memoriable  event  of  a 
temperance  whirlwind  at  Sandown  Hall.  That  now  neat,  little 
flourishing  village  doesn't  look  as  if  it  had  ever  been  blackened  with 
the  fumes  of  distilleries  and  rum-shops,  noisy  and  clamorous  with 
the  bacchanalian's  song  and  muttered  curse.  Vice  has  hid  her  dark 
visage  within  some  stealthy  covert,  or  emigrated  to  a  more  genial 
locality.  The  drunkard's  chaplet  of  thorns  has  been  trampled  in  the 
dust  by  many  a  youth  and  veteran  of  the  sparkling  cup. 

The  smile  of  hope  and  happiness,  once  more  mantles  the  cheek  of 
many  a  mother  and  wife,  erst  drenched  $vith  the  tears  of  anguish, 
rung  out  from  their  bleeding  hearts. 

Children  no  longer  beggared,  ask  for  the  crumbs  which  fall  from 
the  rich  man's  table. 

Churches  have  been  reared,  and  the  Sabbath-bell  chimes  melodious- 
ly around  their  happy  homes.  The  pure  mountain  breezes  bear  upon 
their  renovated  pinions,  the  glad  voices  of  the  redeemed,  chanting 
their  songs  of  temperance,  freedom  and  reform. 

The  gutter  is  deserted ;  rum-shops  few  and  far  between.  And  a 
Temperance  House  has  been  erected  in  the  public  square ;  and  its 
sign  is  a  female  form,  half  enveloped  in  the  foamy  spray  of  a  clear, 
sparkling,  gushing  fountain,  holding  in  her  outstretched  hand,  a 
mystic  scroll  to  a  little  girl  who  vastly  resembles  Alie  Waters,  lead- 
ing from  out  a  Blthy  gutter,  a  band  of  reeling  inebriates.  The  sign 
of°the  "Bottle  and  Sheaf,"  hangs  by  just  one  solitary  hinge,  creak- 
ing and  moaning  as  it  sways  to  and  fro  in  the  angry  blast,  like  some 


22       ALICE   WATERS;  OR,   THE  SJUVDOWN  VICTORY. 

lost  spirit,  bemoaning  the  retribution  which  guilt  and  crime  can  no 
longer  avert. 

Somehow,  things  didn't  go  with  Ben.  Blurt,  as  once  they  did. 
That  little  whirlwind  kicked  up  a  terrible  mess  in  his  porridge-dish, 
and  he  never  after  could  get  things  just  to  his  mind. 

To  be  sure,  Esq.  Lee  and  Deacon  LaAvton  got  something  now  and 
then,  when  they  had  a  bad  spell  of  their  alemints ;  but  the  spells 
didn't  come  on  quite  as  often,  nor  last  quite  as  long  as  they  did,  but 
"La!  'twas  nothing  to  what  it  used  to  be." 

It  was  very  evident  that  the  liquor  trade  was  over,  in  Sandown. 
So  the  "Bottle  and  Sheaf"  and  "Grocer's  Cellar,"  put  their  heads 
together  and  sent  a  sealed  proposal  to  Uncle  Sam.  But  whether 
the  proposal  got  lost,  or  exploded  after  its  arrival,  no  one  ever  knew; 
and  it  was  a  greater  mystery  to  Uncle  Ben  and  neighbor  Smith, 
than  it  was  to  his  opponent  in  the  Village  Square. 

Betsey  Ann  somehow,  hasn't  got  married  yet,  and  they  say,  the 
richest  man  in  town  don't  go  there  half  as  often"' as  he  did;  and 
there  is  some  talk  of  his  going  down  to  the  Federal  lines,  with  a 
load  of  "  greenbacks,"  conscripts,  I  believe  they  call  them. 

"Sally  Mariah  and  Victory  Jane,  didn't  make  such  an  all-killing 
dash  in  the  city  as  they  expected  to."  So  Mrs.  Grocer  Smith  said  : 
"  For  all  the  young  men  that  they  would  look  at,  had  gone  to  war  ; 
•  tind  the  rest  wasn't  good  for  nothing  at  all.  And  so  they  came 
home,  jest  as  they  went,  after  having  spent  a  thousand  or  two,  for 
an  outfit  and  expenses,  and  'twas  terrible  dear  living  in  Boston  this 
winter. 

"  And  then  John,  he  got  into  another  scrape  after  that  Harvard 
affair,  jest  as  we  had  got  him  into  another  college — which  cost  us  a 
good  round  sum,  besides  his  expensive  wine  parties  and  the  money 
that  he  has  lost  gambling.  Well,  all  this  you  know,  coming  as  it  did, 
after  that  unprofitable  speculation  and  heavy  invoice  of  liquors,  has 
well  nigh  set  us  afloat;  and  I  don't  think  that  Sandown  is  a  good 
place,  for  either  of  us  to  make  much  of  a  spec,  Mrs.  Blurt." 

"  Ben  said  so,  sometime  ago;  but  then  he's  been  holding  on, 
hoping  that  Betsey  Ann  might  get  married,  but  that  conscript  ex- 
pedition has  put  him  a  little  aback,  and  he  says  there  is  no  other 
way  for  him,  than  to  move  'over  into  Chancery,  and  your  husband 
is  going  too;  so  we  can  be  neighbors  aud  keep  up  our  old  acquain- 
tance as  well  as  if  we  were  in  the  '  Bottle  and  Sheaf  and  Grocer 
establishment.  And  this  all  comes  of  liberal  -minded  ministers  ;  of 
female  lectures ;  Alie  Waters,  and  what  they  call  the  SANDOWX 
VICTORY." 


A~  •      •  '«"  Hill  IIIH  III 

000  036  471     1 


